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THE 



USES OF SOLITUDE. 



BY WILLIAM E. SMITH. 



"Fancy dreams, 
Kapt into high discodrse of prophets old, 
And wandering through Elysium, Fancy dreams 
Of sacred fountains and o'ersuadowing groves 
Whose walks with God-like harmony resound." 

Akenside. 




^V. 



PRINTED FOR THE 

ALABAMA ALPHA OF THE PHI BETA KAPPA SOCIETY 

OF THE UNIVERSITY AT TUSKALOOSA. 

1860. 



-p&s-^^^ 



^A 



\K\ 



Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1860, 

BY WILLIAM R. SMITH, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for 

the Middle District of Alabama. 



Hon. Wm. R. Smith : 

Dear Sir — The undersigned have been appointed a Committee 

by the Alabama Alpha of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, to tender 

you the thanks of that body, for the elegant Poem delivered by 

you on the evening of the 11th inst., and to request a copy of 

the same for publication. 

With the highest respect, 

Your ob't serv'ts, 

JO. C. GUILD, 

J. T. SEARCY, 

W. A. BATTLE. 
TusKALOosA, July 14th, 1860. 



THE 



USES OF SOLITUDE 



PART I. 



The graceful offices of Solitude 
When Labor seeks her aid ; the soothing spell 
Of Silence when the intellect at first 
Its early meditation cultivates 
And weds its timid thoughts to lofty themes, 
Patient maturing ; these inspire my song, 
And call upon the Muse contemplative, 
Egeria, guardian Maid of Solitude, 
To point the way, and urge the votary on 
To heights yet unattained, but still in view 
And seen by Fancy's meditative eye. 



II. 

Let every man achieve his own renown, 
Kor wait for Fortune ; multitudes may shout 
O'er small deserts, and give elated Hope 
Deceitful promises ; Posterity 
"Will not be thus betrayed ; who waits on others 
Loses his time and dies without a name. 

To climb the pyramid that others build 
And stand upon the summit, grateful is 
To human curiosity ; to gaze 
From the high peak upon the plains below 
Multiplies wonder and brings reverence,-— 
For thousands climb where only one doth build,— 
Yet all this wonder, all this reverence 
Is admiration only for the man 
Whose genius planned and shaped the mighty pile ; 
The Temple is forgotten in the thought 
That flies in its impatient inquiry 
To find the master-builder of the fane ; 
Thus, to CREATIVE GENIUS doth mankind 
Bend the uncushioned knee. 



III. 

Whether of granite or of shadows made, 
Rising majestic on the lofty mound 
Or swelling solemn from Tradition's vale. 



Fame's towers themselves are Solitudes whose tongues, 

Marble or mist, instruct posterity. 

That pyramid was reared by Cicero ; 

Horace reared this, irregular ; dispute 

Leaves that grand shaft in mystery ; — -Fancy says, 

Lucretius bought the granite ; yon huge pile 

Of modern architecture is of rock 

Primeval, quarried from the hills of Eden. 

Still, in the mountain gorge, the ancient winds — 
As young to-day as when at first they sprung 
Strong from their azure cradles in the sky — 
Still, in the mountain gorge, those ancient winds 
Are shouting requiems to Leonidas ! 
In the deep forest where the marble arms 
That clasp the everlasting hills reach not 
To prop the level, unaspiring, plains. 
There still doth ring the shouts of Marion's men. 
And Marion lives, even in the blades of grass 
That freshly every morn diurnal dews 
Shed sparkling to his deathless memory. 

Shadows of mighty men make Solitudes : 
The spot whereon the Sun, great sculptor, carved 
Gigantic the dim shape of Washington — 
Vernon — shall live, when all the granite hills 
That man doth proudly pile for him shall lie 
In crumbled heaps amid earth's ruined fanes. 



IV. 

In Meditation's robes arrayed, inspired 
Witli longings infinite yet undefined, 
Thoughtless of whence the spell that stirs the soul 
In its upliftings after excellence. 
The youth of high ambition stands apart 
Restless, and striving how to find and seize 
The unattained perfection of his race. 
In Solitude remote the secret lies 
That leads the mind to its maturity. 
In Solitude are tutors which supply 
Great tomes of varied learning to direct 
The Fancy how to plan and execute ; 
To pile the ledges of immortal thought ; 
To shape symmetrical the rounded phrase. 
And chisel, into form, Philosophy. 
There, Silence takes the timid thought and guards 
The tremulous idea fi-om rude hands ; 
Ko critic's babbling tongue is heard ; no eyes 
Severe are bent upon the aspiring boy, 
As timidly he matches dainty thoughts 
With quaintest phrases; there no frigid sneer — 
Envy's abortion when it tried to smile — 
Doth twist the lip of censure, but applause. 
Grateful, salutes Imagination's ear, 
Crowns eager Hope with radiant resolution, 
Inspires belief and promises reward. 



Behold tlie Athenian boy in Solitude, 
Calling the waves to crowd about his feet ! — 
Timid of living auditors but bold 
To mate his periods with the shouting sea ! 

The youthful Eoman glimpses caught of Fame, 
And longed to reach her highest hills and bathe 
The wings of thought in Glory's rays, untangled 
By mist or shadow : Tully thus aspired. 
Within himself he sought retreat, and there, 
Leaning upon the rail of Genius' altar. 
Planned and perfected Life's immortal scheme ; 
Forged his own keys and opened all the doors 
Of dim Philosophy ; enraptured found 
The slumbering past and winged it for the future ; 
Sought Athens, in remembrance of great days, 
To tread the soil, tho' desecrate, that once 
Echoed the footsteps of Demosthenes ; 
Listened amid the ruins of her fanes. 
To learn how centuries had melodized 
The tones that jarred the hills of Macedon ; 
Stole through the ancient groves where Zenophon 
And Plato talked with Socrates ; embraced, 
Fervid, the breathing pillar that upheld 
The Temple where Apelles ruled and felt. 
Inspired, the graceful presence of Aspasia : — 
Nor paused, — but at the portals of great schools 
Declaimed in Greek, and practised as a boy 

Before a master ; all instructions caught, 
2 



10 

Bent on perfection in forensic arts. 

He Mystery sought and woke the Delphian God, 

Enquired his fate and heard the Oracle : 

" Upon thyself rely ! Cicero !" 



V. 

Great thoughts mature themselves in Solitude ; 
Appearing through the shadows of a dream 
Dimly at first, being eagerly pursued, 
In shapes immaculate they leap at last 
Rounded and perfect from the sombre arms 
Of all embracing chaos. Plato saw, 
"Without the aid of revelation, places 
In the deep future, where the soul might rest 
Immortal, from its clay-cold element 
Removed and purified — beyond the grave. 

Flowers that had blossomed through long centuries 
On Aristotle's brow, before the gaze 
Of patient Galileo, fell and died. 

The unchained lightning that had ever moved 
Giant primeval of the flood and storm, 
Scorning the Rainbow's curving attitude 
And threatening to demolish her sweet arch, 
"Was dragged from out its cloud built towers and 

brought 
To kneel with Science at the flaming altar 



11 

Of conquering Genius ; there was taught to know 
Its other duties ; in obedience 
"Was made to whisper love tales, and to shout 
The news of battles and the death of king-s. 



VI. 



Dimly upon the sailor's eye prophetic 
A world appeared, with cliffs and craggy borders ; 
Its beaches reaching far their snowy limbs 
Into the cooling waters ; towering trees 
Lifting aloft their giant boughs familiar 
Towards the same sun that lit Genoa's morning. 
This vision of the Fancy grew to be 
A haunting thought, and science was applied, 
And wit and eloquence were brought to aid 
Its fair development ; fools sneered ; savans 
Tested impatiently, despaired and scoffed ; 
Monarchs, — some busy pulling nations down, 
Others too eager in the fond pursuit 
Of all absorbing pleasure, — had no ears 
For schemes absurd ; and so the sailor, driven 
From court to court, took refuge in himself, 
Still pondering day and night through weary years 
The grand reality. It lifted him 
Out of the world and far above mankind, 
And made him an inhabitant of realms 
Where only Genius dares to place its foot. 



12 



VII. 



Immortal Homer, blind, tinfinislied left 
His glorious works. Far scattered lay in Avaifs 
His song disjointed; — statues without heads, 
Heads without bodies, — each a master-piece 
Wanting the knitting symmetry of joints, 
Until a hand less mighty than his own, 
But schooled in Solitude and taught to know 
The conquering uses of unbroken toil, 
Restored each limb, combined the graces each, 
And gave a tone and harmony to all. 

"Who this achieved ? A solitary man, 
That Hermit Legislator who ordained 
Laws that formed heroes for the youthful state, 
And taught the mortal Spartan how to make 
A name immortal in Time's calendar. 

Lycurgus hail ! Hail lonely laborer ! 

Lo ! where he pensive leans his iron face, 

Prone for a moment on the sombre tome 

But recent closed for recreation ! Now 

His other task, with phrensy lighted eye 

And brows made glad by change of occupation, 

Labor of love, he cheerfally essays, 

And sits slow tying up the broken strings 

Of Homer's shattered harp ! All spirits throng. 

All, save white-eyed Despair whose dripping wings 



13 

Low hang where Labor strives : — All spirits come, 
And, shouting through his trumpet veins, arouse 
His mighty heart assiduous, and so touch 
His mind with inspiration, that his thoughts 
Exultant trace the self-same channels, (slimed 
"With moss of centuries,) that Homer carved 
For Rills Pierian. 



VIII. 
Art thou ambitious to control mankind ? 
Would' st draw the eyes of multitudes ; . become 
A moving power amongst the credulous ? 
Look through the broad historic page and learn 
The secrets of the rise of mighty men ; 
How Power and Solitude have ever dwelt 
Together in the closest brotherhood. 

" The King can do no wrong :" this phrase its force 
Asserts oracular behind the throne, 
That Delphic recess of a tyrant sway, 
Mysterious made by shadows from a crown. 

IX. 

The muses have their Springs Pierian, 
Those fancy Meccas, where the Nymphs keep guard. 
There none may come but gentlest devotees, 
And such as recognize the tender sway 
Of Harmony, that monarch of soft souls. 



14 

There Homer, searching, found serene retreat ; 
There Shakespeare tarried idling, of the Nymphs 
Petted — still petting the enchanted maids ; 
Anacreon there quaffed bubbles, magic draughts ; 
There Collins wandering found the wizard shell 
"Whose coral lips made Passion eloquent ; 
There Beattie dreamed, and from the mossy seat 
Saw Fame's Proud Temple on the heights afar ; 
There Grey majestical a moment paused. 
And, solemn listening to the curfew knell, 
Saw Night erect of stars a monument 
Colossal over the departed day. 



X. 

But Earth hath gloomier Solitudes, those fanes 
Mysterious — Superstition's homes, — their Priests 
Uttering with Delphian tongues oracular. 
And mystic lines prophetical, the fate 
Of men and empires. Crowns have fallen, and states 
Have grown and perished by the breath of these. 
The wisdom of antiquity did crowd 
Around their portals with impatient ear ; 
The Solons and the Platos of old time 
Their homage paid and sought the dim decree. 
So, Mystery, hand in hand with Solitude, 
Power created and made absolute. 
The Roman twins, beast-nurtured, had their sway ; 
Numa brought laws from feigned Egeria's grove, 



15 

The wise decrees of solitary Labor, 
Owing their potency to mystery ; 
Two children born immediate of the sun 
Gave Kings to Peru for a thousand years ; 
Mahomet had his angel and his cave, — 
"With what results, let Christendom explain, 

XL 

In ancient times, each army on its march 
Carried a Seer, in Solitude pavilioned ; 
His thoughts companioned with some stroling bird, 
His eye prophetic inward turned to gaze 
On Fortune's panoramics shifting ever ; 
In him the elements of Fate did meet. 
This lonely man determined when a crown 
Should tumble, when a state should rise or fall ; 
He battles fought beforehand and decided ; 
To cowards he gave courage, promising 
Victory in advance ; — so ruled the camp 
And made great names to gull posterity. 

xn. 

What Seer but walked the earth in Solitude ; 
What Prophet but received the gift of Heaven 
Alone, and inspiration caught while Silence 
Enamored hovered round the voice of God I 
When favored ISToah, not incredulous, 
Th' advancing cataracts beheld, and heard 



16 

The opening window of the storm rent sky 
Groan on its muttering hinge — he was alone ! 

When Lot was told to fly the fated city, 
That death was hovering near ; that all the sky, 
Its stars inverted JEtnas, was preparing 
Tempestuous the flaming tides of wrath, 
He was alone ! Still entertaining angels. 

XIII. 

In Solitude the grandeur of the mind 
Reaches its loftiest height ; self resolution. 
Cased in the iron armor of the soul, 
Conquers all ills, all terrors vanquishes : 
Thus man approaches God in shape and will, 
While evils in his presence but assume 
The graceful forms of blessings absolute. 
With what subduing power, with the lions 
Crouched at his feet, did mighty Daniel stand ! 
Suns blazed around him, and his eyes did glow 
Celestial, and commanding attitudes 
Marked him Creation's Representative. 

So lesser men have lesser deeds achieved. 
But still in grandeur do the deeds appear. 
God comes in various shapes to aid his creatures 
He gives to Labor now the power he gave 
To Seers in ages when the arts were young. 
Labor the secret is that leads to Fame, 
Or Good, — and Good is all the end of Life. 



17 



XIV. 



WJieu monarchs frown and Liberty, assailed, 
Flies shrieking at tlie touch of Tyranny 
To some deep cavern or some mountain height, 
Her voice is heeded best by him who there 
Hath seen her in her craggy fastnesses, 

For there she nurses heroes for her wars. 
Amid the clifis of Switzerland, whose tongues 
Are ever eloquent, was Tell first taught 
How beautiful the hate of tyrants is ; 
And there the echoes of Oppression's groans, 
In hideous uproar, caught the patriot's ear. 



XV. 

When the rude Mussulmen with impious feet 
The precincts of the Holy Sepulchre 
Invaded and made desecrate, whose voice 
Aroused the Christian million ? Popes were dumb. 
And monarchs, Christian-crowned, were silent all, 
Unmindful and neglecting to rebuke 
The turban ed insolence that soiled the Tomb 
Of Holy Nazarine. What breaks the spell 
And shakes the yoke that galls the harnessed neck 
Of sluggish Christendom ? One gentle voice 
Faint rising from a solitary cell. 
The passionate wailings of an angry soul 
3 



18 

Touched with sublime resentment : Peter comes, 
The Hermit, from self-banishment, and brings 
The hoarded learning of a studious life, 
With strength to mate the thought's maturity ; 
An iron will, with eloquence ; a zeal 
Grand in its sweep — in its results, sublime. 



XVI. 

The man of lofty genius, who consorts 
With Labor as a chosen mate, and sits 
And talks with her as conjugal, and leans 
Confiding on her fondly for support,— 
Not scorning to uplift her on his wings 
And waft her sometimes to the land of dreams, 
Where she may decorate herself with fancies, — 
That man meets for denials ; to his eye 
Nature reveals all secrets ; to his ear 
Selectest melody is ever shaped, 
And harmonies divine enchant his soul. 
The chest of ancient lore, whose ponderous lid 
Is never lifted to the indolent, 
Or, if half-lifted, on its groaning hinge 
Falls back, its mystic wonders yet unseen. 
To him is open thrown, and all its gay 
And gaudy contents are spread out before him. 
As if the ages past had gathered them 
For his especial use. 



19 



XVIT. 



Fancy delights to pet lier chosen sons,— 
Mortals predestined to immortal walks ; — 
She leads them to her sacred haunts remote 
From gay Frivolity's profaning touch, 
And opens there her treasures, — boundless all — 
In rich variety profusely strewn. 
To every votary a wand is given ; 
To every eye such jewels are displayed 
As suit the separate longings of each mind. 

To Homer's ear she makes the Universe 
One harp, star-strung and touched by angel fingers ; 
He hears the sullen roar of Vulcan's forge, 
Stands by the great Artificer and plans, 
Authoritative, mad Achilles' shield. 
For Homer's feet the Ocean dries her caves ; 
The coral nymphs admit him to their cells ; 
To Homer's knock the portals of the sky 
Fly open, and the Gods are all betrayed ! 
The Godesses themselves in vain do fly ; 
The light streams in and Juno drops her veil. 

All the Celestials the Bard's vassals are, 
And fly to do his bidding when he sings : 
Venus attending with her mystic lore 
Supplies a charm for all emergencies ; 
And Jupiter, in azure heaps, keeps ready 
Selectest thunder, and down hurls, in streams, 
Ked avalanches riven from out the sky, 



20 

To light the fearful path that Terror treads 
On earth while mortals wage immortal wars. 

Minerva speaks:— all the resounding aisles 
Of the celestial Pantheon are filled 
With such soft tones as Harmony holds ever 
Ready conceived for Wisdom's mellow words* 
Such sounds, such raptures, are reserved alone 
For those whom Fancy with the Gods acquaint. 

Long lingering by the gates of Paradise, 
Did curious Milton see the first sad tear, 
The crystal lava of Eve's burning brain, 
Molten, diffuse itself along the cheek 
Where naught before had watered beauty's bloom 
But faithful kisses. 



XVIII. 

So wait the Wood IlTymphs on the favored Bard, ^ 
Display their mysteries and their haunts betray ; 
Their passions show, their weaknesses, their loves, 
And all the gay enchantments that surround, 
In various shapes, their sylvan Solitudes. 
Diana calls in Ovid to behold 
Her beauties shadowed in the amorous waters. 
That laughed in bubbles round her glowing ankles, 
And sighed to clamber up the marble pillars :-^ 
While Actseon, frantic boy, intemperate gazed, 
And lost his life for his audacity ! 

So the Infernals wait on Fancy's sons : — 



21 

E'en sullen Charon smiles as Dante comes, 
Forgets the chartered franchise of his boat 
And gives free passage to th' adventurer ; 
"Wliile Pluto's gloomy mansions sudden shine 
Effulgent, that the dunnest cell may show 
Secrets to him, the favorite Bard, who wears, 
Circling his finger, Fancy's signet ring. 



PART II. 



Affcei' long years of toil and baflled hopes, 
When comes a great achievement, recognized, 
Escaped from doubts perplexing, fashioned full 
To call the trumpet praises of mankind. 
With what a joyous spring the bounding heart 
Exultant leaps to Glory's circling arms; 
How leans the insatiate ear to catch the shouts. 
Borne on the breezes, that proclaim success ; 
How thus assured the expanding soul aspires 
To seek divine perfection for its mate ! 
Man dons the shining armor of Renown, — 
Renown that all men worship in their youth ; 
For this the ardent mind pui'sues the path 



22 

That leads to learning througli the gloomy vales 

Of Ignorance ; for this the stubborn will 

Scorns the deceitful promises of sloth 

And conquers fate ; for this the graceful arm 

Effeminate of Genius Labor clasps, 

Lifts the huge sledge and makes the anvil ring. 

Ah ! nothing so inspires the soul of youth, 

And urges him to noble enterprises 

Plann'd for the future, as the wish to live,- — 

To live immortal in the world's esteem ; 

That dead, he still may hear the lauding shout 

Mellifluous climb the advancing walls of Time, 

Sounding his name and calling generations, 

Each as they pass, to note his character. 



II. 

How few achieve the task sublime ; how many 
Buckle Intent upon their limbs and struggle, 
But weary grow and faint ; long tarrying 
For recreation at the spring of pleasure. 
Dipping therein the wings of Resolution, 
Till saturate they shake their plumes no more. 

Soft Melancholy with her drooping eyes 
Doth oft invade the realms of Solitude ; 
But not alike to all is mischievous : 
To minds unstrung, in Fancy's mazes lost, 
"With giddy thoughts, disjointed, fragmentary, 



23 

And incoherent — to such minds as these 

Alone, is Melancholy dangerous. 

It madness was, and brought its fatal spell, 

To sullen Byron ; it supplied the cup 

Of poison to the gloomy Chatterton ; 

Ogre-like seized our Edgar Poe and dragged 

That eagla-nightingale from out the sky. 

To others, stubborn and superior, 

It is a slave to serve best purposes ; — 

To Homer, Virgil, Dante, it but held 

The pencil for the sombre finishing 

Of gloomy pictures ; — help-mate, meet indeed,- 

And quick to wait on solitary toil 

Not misdirected but by Genius guided : 

For logic, breeding curiosity 

To tread the mazes of mysterious reason, 

Doth system bring and cheerfulness to quell 

This rebel Misanthrope. 



III. 

Shun Pleasure's haunts ; drive Melancholy hence ; 
For who achieves Renown must Patience serve, 
And cultivate assiduous her dim smiles : 
Twice seven years serve if such the term prescribed, 
For no abatement she allows of time ; 
No shrinking from fatigue she tolerates. 
Whoso deserts the post that she assigns. 



24 



In haste or folly, perishes ; who runs 
To climb Fame's icy hill must surely fall, 
Prone to the plain, not planting well his foot. 
Be not in haste, let Phaeton dead instruct. 
Seek not the office, let the office seek ; 
Genius, well schooled, will not be long delayed, 
For monarchs know the art to prop a throne. 
There be who try, impatient^, their young wings 
And fall, — not having nerve for lofty flight, — 
And never shake away th' ignoble dust ; 
"Whoso neglects himself the world neglects. 
A meteor forms no portion of the sky, 
But constant blazing stars far off" that glow, 
Circled in brilliance ever, still invite 
The curious telescope's enquiring eye; 
The comet, whirling through the fields of light, 
Fed by a mighty energy internal. 
The vital element of magnitude. 
Becomes, in memory, historical. 
Teaching a mimic immortality — 
Giving assurance of its oft return — 
Predestined, as the Ages roll in waves 
"Washing the feet of grey Eternity. 



IV. 

Music doth seek the woods, her first-born child. 
Sweet Echo, is the pet of Solitude, 



25 

!N'ursed in the cavern, lauded on the hills 
And lulled to dreams in the soft lap of Silence. 

David annointed still his flock attended ; 
A mystery yet undefined to him 
Filled his young mind with lofty aspirations, — 
And aspiration inspiration brings. — 
The shepherd's occupation leisure gave 
To shape perfection ; daily from his reed 
Came sounds still softer, breathing harmony ; 
The Peasant-Prince sweet echoes hourly made 
And chased the trembling infants through the woods, 
Pursued them to their caves, and heard their last 
Faint sighs as languishing they sank to rest ; 
Then felt the pulse of Silence as she slept, 
To learn the various touches of his art ; 
And thus, so cunning grew his magic fingers, 
That, called to Court to make his first display. 
He charmed the King and won the daughter's heart. 

And one there was in later times, with soul 
Devoted to the harmony of sounds ; 
Not less creative of his art, but more 
Swayed by the demon that in music dwells,— 
For music hath its demon as its God. — 
Not satisfied a second part to play 
In life's grand opera, this man aspired 
Sole wonder of the Universe to be. 
Such lofty aim demanded high resolves 
Of labor tedious, the unbroken toil 

Of shadowy years ; but when the spirit calls 
4 



26 



The deep soul answers and the body yields. 

This modern Orpheus sought for Solitudes 

Remote, and far from human feet intrusive : •, 

There, called on all things to promote his task ; 

Struck the resounding rock to hear it moan ; 

Gave up his ears to the great cavern's mouth 

To catch its long drawn sighs ; then pebbles cast 

Into the limpid waters which, dividing 

Their liquid throats, in tenderest cadency 

Complained of this cold sport ; he heard the trout 

Mellifluous plunge, and flout the bathing breeze ; 

The lowest chirp of birds he heard ; the air. 

Yielding a channel to the downy breasts 

Of sweeping swallows, clothed their wings with tones 

So delicately soft that Harmony 

Stood tip-toe with her shell to father them. 

He clomb great trees to hear the winds rehearse 

f heir morning chant among the leaves, and draw 

Deep groaning sighs from that colossal organ. 

The unhewn wilderness ; he called the clouds 

To roll their azure drums at morn and eve ; 

The lightning came, but had no charms for him 

Until it broke in thunders and so rent 

The shivering sky that he could hear it fall. 

He turned to gentler sports ; in rills he played, 

And flung his naked feet and dashed the spray 

In childlike glee, to hear it fall again ; 

He drew young leaves dew-covered through his fingers. 

That he might hear them scream, then copies made 



27 

Of the minutest tone ; lie yoked the wolf 
And scourged him at the stake to hear him howl ; 
Would mate him with the fierce hyena there, 
And laugh and shout to hear their mingled cries J 
He serpents chased to hear them hiss and ring 
Their fatal bells ; the lizard's lightning sweep 
Among the seared leaves supplied his ear 
With tuneful combinations ; even the cricket 
Brought a shrill horn to teach the sharpest note. 
Thus as one crazed, this frantic man pursued. 
Through tedious years of dreariest solitude. 
His one idea. All the tuneful choir 
Of bird and beast, though scourged by him and chased, 
Would throng around his hermitage to hear 
The gushing cataracts of his wild harmony. 
As, in the dewy morn or quiet eve. 
He sat long hours discoursing in sUch numbers 
As moved his soul and into wild convulsions 
Cast his frail body. 

Thus perfection came. 
Came in convulsions and announced itself. 
Uprose this wondrous man and girt around 
With grand assurance of capacity, 
Not doubting the result of his hard toils. 
He sought the world-— the world that keeps the keys 
Of fair renown — and called on kings to listen. 
Kings came, and multitudes in tumults came, 
Thronging the choking theatres, to hear 
The demon Paginini ! 



28 

Thus the power 
Of Labor, to perfect a single art, 
With Solitude combined, in this one case 
Sublime appears. 

And is it not enough 
To be the first in any single art? 



V. 

But not alone for self-aggrandizement 
Doth Solitude her offices employ ; 
She hews Ambition of its ruggedness ; 
To turbulence, serenity imparts ; 
Subdues the rebel thought, and tames the heart—* 
Doming the spirit in Tranquility -^ 
To softest inclinations ; for the mind. 
By contemplation, brings the Passions kneeling 
To worship at the shrine of Intellect. 

Each orb is a majestic Solitude, 
Eemote, but still in view, — approachable, — 
For Genius, laboring, finds the dim abode. 
Fancy, swift darting through the yielding space, 
Peoples it — cheating dull reality, — 
Imaginative peoples, and surrounds 
Its day with light, its night with starry zones. 
The Chaldean saw a God in every star. 
And Herschel brings the Chaldean a new God. 
The rude astrologer, with softened eye, 
Caught far ofi" glimpses of divinity, 



29 

In mystic revelations dimly shown 

To Hope, forever longing,— realized 

At last, — proclaimed by that auspicious star 

Seen by the Persian sages in the East.-'— 

But these are not my themes : — to earth again 
The giddy muse returns. 



VI. 

Lo, Daniel Boone, 
Braving the panther's direful leap, erects 
His tent upon the knoll where human feet 
Have left no prints, and eager stoops to taste, 
"Where beasts have ancient bathed, the limpid stream J 
Slaughters the Buffalo and spreads the hide ; 
Lights a quick pile and sends a messenger 
To hail the sky and join the trooping clouds ; 
Prepares a feast that Hercules might envy ; 
Mates his grey eyes with the unblinking starsj 
In grateful meditation prayerfully, 
And sinks to slumber on his mother, earth. 
The giant oak, next day, — as the keen axe, 
Uplifted by the hardy pioneer, 
Rapid descends relentless,— ^desolate 
Bewails its fate, and fills the startled woods 
With groans resounding, till the forest swells 
Afar with lamentations ; and the wolf. 
Roused from his lair, with glaring eyes protruding, 
Seeks denser shades protective ; swarming birds, 



30 

Circling tlie eddying air, scream overliead, 
And dip, adventurous, tlie deep'ning sky 
To find far fathoms of security ; 
The eagle downward bends his sun-glazed eye > 
To note the advent, and, far swooping, oft 
Returns, and, curious, contemplates the stranger, 
Who day by day enlarges his domain. 
And plays the monarch in the wilderness. 
Thus Patriarchs stood in ancient times and grew 
In the first Solitudes their giant race. 
Delightful task, for him who leaves the old. 
To make a new, world for himself and his — • 
The wife who follows him for weal or woe, 
Great spirited woman and American — 
Delightful task, to hew the cabin sill. 
To notch the rising corners and to place 
The sloping rafters and the gables rear. 
All in a day, — sweet work and quickly done ! 
To rive firom yielding timber the clean board, 
Meant, slanting, to receive and turn the tain ; 
And all together join without a nail ! — 
Axes resound and mauls, but not a nail 
Tastes, with its iron fang, the virgin wood. 
Rude architecture, but enough for man. 
From the low portal of the humble shed 
The soul may walk forth in its majesty 
And find for meditation ample range. 
Soon the trees grow familiar and the hills : 
The cabin is a real home ; the fields 



31 



Blossom with foreign vines ; tlie babbling rill, 
Familiar, answers now the prattling tongues. 
And laves the uncovered feet, of boys and girls 
Native and destined round about to see 
The city spread its paved avenues, 
And rear its spires whose golden tongues each morn 
Silent, afar, proclaim the approaching sun. 
Thus do new worlds begin, with one great heart 
To lodge its pulses in the wilderness. 



VII. 

But not alone the wilderness invites 
Heroes adventurous ; the bounding sea 
Opens her caverns, and the sailor's spirit, 
Daring, is called to vaster Solitudes. 

Prone, with his country's banner in his hand, 
Lo ! glorious Franklin gives his life to gaze 
On uninhabitable lands, and seas 
Far frozen in the northern latitudes. 
Where'er the Ocean reached her liquid arms, 
Through empires where the tyrant Winter reigns 
Alone, to crush all human dynasties, 
His mind aspired to venture ; to his eye 
Familiar were the icy cliffs that pile 
Their glassy columns 'gainst the northern sky. 
Transparent Avorld ! what led the hero there ? 
Was it some nymph celestial, liquid born. 
Some princess in those crystal palaces 



32 

Long captive held — unfortunate Undine ? — 
Not this ; no fancy-tilting knight was he ; 
One passion led him : — Gloiy with great eyes 
Circling the universe ; — his country's pride 
Touching the pulses of his patriot heart. 

Are these the waters, these the primal seas 
That left their native caverns to bestride, 
With desolating tread, man's wicked realms. 
When God was wrathful in the ancient day ? 
Pillars of ice ! are ye the buttresses 
That earliest based the rainbow's lovely arch ? 
Thou element impatient, ever shifting — 
Didst thou uphold the ark when storms were raging ? 
When animated nature, at the feet 
Of Noah, crowded in a single ship ? 
O Solitude, tumultuous and sublime ! 
When to and fro the raven flew nor found 
On earth a resting place, and timid back 
The DOVE returned to her imprisonment. 



33 



PART III. 



But not alone the Solitude, I sing, 
Of desolate islands and serene retreats 
Where Genius with the Gods may meditate : 
I sing the Solitude of Mind ; the power 
To draw the sense from its accustomed use 
Of natural avenues ; the power to be 
Still in the uproar, deaf to all the shouts 
Of angered multitudes ; the power divine 
To pluck from turbulence the time to think ; 
To shape the glowing thoughts to themes divine, 
And meditate perfections infinite. 
While Fury raves and mobs tumultuous reign, 

II. 

The great men of the earth are disciplined 
In Solitude to grapple with the time. 
The battle-moment — the emergency — 
For life is but a battle, and the odds 
Will ever be upon the side of skill : 
What orator can seize and sway the minds 
Of thronging auditors without the power 



34 

To rise above tumultuous accidents, 

In grand abstraction witb his theme ? Whose arm, 

Surrounded by excited senators 

When Rome was trembling, — whose red arm, upraised 

High o'er the head of palsied agitation, 

Eeached Jove's domains, and dragged in fury down 

Thunder upon the hosts of Catiline ? 



III. 

The poet's mind erects its hermitage 
"Where'er he goes ; preoccupied, it is 
His privilege in crowds to be alone, 
Condensing rapturous fancies into thoughts 
That glow with ardor and harmonious flow. 
His world is peopled with the dead and living ; 
Shadows to him are substances that come 
From the dim realms of Chaos to perfect 
Epics symmetrical and embryo songs. 
To him alike the woodland walk serene. 
The thronging streets, and echoing palaces, 
Bring burning thoughts, or sad foreboding dreams. 
He meditates sublime on Babel's height. 
And leaves confusion wild to quell itself. 

Weary of sylvan sports inhibited, 
The Bard of Avon flies to busier scenes, 
And flts himself to merriest occupations 
Of lowest life. Delightful task, for him 
The fugitive, to light th' ambitious lamps, 



35 

In whose red glare tlie mimic king may strut, 

And sliow his crown, and ape — how easy ape — 

The ways of tyrants. Active in this office, 

Cheerful and apt in small buffooneries, 

He makes an upward stride, and plays the ghost 

With such perfection as promotion brings. 

Until he towers himself into a king ; 

Voluptuous tastes all regal luxuries. 

And feels the cumbrous weight of tinsel crowns ; 

Feels Power exultant; traitors learns to know, 

And how to top the high luxurious growth 

Of rank Rebellion ; learns to know a friend, 

A trustful Minister, from one that fawns ; 

Feels the cold tooth of base ingratitude. 

Prepares the scaffold and uplifts the axe. 

Thus Shakespeare, measuring all his power in sports, 

Perfection brought from dim Delusion's realms ; 

For strife of perfect mimicry doth school 

The artist how to whet his instruments. 



IV. 

"Well tutored Genius may abstract itself 
And accurately track its occupation, 
Unjostled by the sweeping multitude 
That elbows common people from the path. 
Lo ! Caesar comes ! Fly not, ye timid throngs — 
'Tis but his body — far away his mind. 
Fighting the Helvii or unpluming Pompey. 



36 

The centre of an army was to Csesar 
Tlie thickest Solitude, where mighty aims 
Condensed great thoughts and quickened resolution ; 
"With eagle eye he saw — on eagle wings 
He swoop'd terrific, and majestic soar'd- 

So mighty Alexander, with his myriads 
Crowding the heels of Battle, was alone ! 
Alone — with one grand thought engrossed, that made 

him 
A hermit in the midst of multitudes. 



Whose tread irregular is that ? who comes, 
His chin concealed beneath the lifted folds 
Of his long sweeping robe — all ears, no eyes — 
Or eyes that inward look as if they listened ? 
The eloquent logic of fixed resolution 
Banishes meditation, and the mind 
Over and over sternly acts its part 
Patiently plotting, while the hilted dagger 
Grows wet and clammy in the fevered grasp ; — 
True to the call of shrieking Liberty^ 
Brutus approaches. 

VI. 
Who lingers by the Queen, — grand Isabella ? 
Who speaks by snatches, as the royal ear, 
Shaking its jeweled wand of sweet consent 



37 

"Witli graceful inclination, lifts the shell 
That echoes hut applause in answering 
The impatient lispings of a fixed amhition ? 
Columhus seems delighted, and his eye 
Scatters its flashing rays upon the Queen's, 
As if his soul were present ; but his thoughts. 
His mind's rapt eyes, are far away exploring 
The azure-bedded islands of strange seas, 
And the rough edges of the craggy clifl:8 
That hedge the Ocean in its westward rolh 



VII. 

Immortal Siddons stands upon the stage 
Blind to the audience, and oblivious 
Of all things, — save that she is Lady Macbeth. 
The bodily presence of the tragic muse 
Graces the boards ; the spirit of the mind, 
Unearthed and garmented in inspiration. 
Hid by the battlements of Macbeth' s Castle, 
Broods ominous and plots with pale-eyed murder- 
She whispers to the earless walls, declaims 
In rapturous soliloquy secure ; 
She sweeps the air with passionate, raving arms, 
And storms with such rapt attitudes, that Fancy 
l!«[ot daring to confi'ont reality, 
Drops her illusive glass and vanishes. 

Whence comes this power divine ? from Discipline,- 
Oft marshaling the faculties in secret, 



38 

Logic perfecting, teaching self-control, — 

'Tis Discipline that gives the towering mind 

The graceful attributes that God himself 

Intended should inhabit the fair form 

Of man, his chosen image, — man who wears 

Commanding attitudes, and moves, inspired, 

In the rapt circle of intelligence, 

"With longings that uplift him to the skies. 

VIII. 

Two youths I knew, each lofty in his aims, 
Each gifted beyond mortals of his type 
"With some peculiar excellence ; each bent 
In his fond dreams on Immortality. 
The one, dark-browed to Solitude inclined, 
Stern and repelling all frivolities, 
Much given to quiet brooding, with eyes raised, 
"Whether in reverence to the Deity, 
Or an upreaching merely to the clouds 
For golden thoughts and images that plume 
The wings of Fancy in her early flights. 
He knew not, — none could penetrate his mind ■ 
That realm of inclinations, hopes and fears. 
Whether he worship'd God or Fame as first, 
He took no time to question, but his thoughts 
Ran into adamantine resolutions 
To make himself a centre and a star. 
To which the eyes of men in after days, 



39 

Througli the long telescope of centuries, 
Should gaze at with increase of wonderment. 
The other, open-browed with eyes of fire 
Quick blazing at the touch of cheerfulness ; 
Gentle as Summer ; wayward as the sky 
That curtains April in her hoyden couch ; 
First in the ring of pleasure ; in the race 
Of frolic, foremost ever ; apt of wit ; 
Rapid and smooth-tongued, even eloquent ; 
"Well fashioned and of shape majestical, 
For all the graceful actions that persuade 
In him assumed such attitudes as prompt 
Earnest responses and enthusiasm. 
This was his fatal gift. Ah ! hapless youth, 
To whom applause is born, and not achieved : — 
He deems mankind his vassals, and demands 
Spontaneous adulation as his due. 

And yet these two, so different, were fond friends, 
And often met in lonely glens to scan 
Each other's thoughts, ambitions, hopes and fears. 



IX. 

One morn, along the dew-lit lawn, these two 
Linked arm in arm, beside the river's marge 
Moved languidly, when sudden thus began 
The cheerful youth : 

" what a night we had ! 
You did not come, yet all the world was there. 



40 

The wit and fashion of the city came ; 

And beauty, sparkling, as in gems arrayed, 

Brought many queens to join the festival. 

The music was so rich that every form 

Was touched with gentlest graces ; awkwardness. 

Caught in the swing of harmony, did seem 

As if its cloven feet were used to slippers. 

Moving celestial, — such is music's power : — 

Fair maids enchanting came, those merry moons 

That sway the surface of life's rosy sea. 

Each in pursuit of her Endymion. 

And ! the wine ! it was so brimmed with sparks. 

Those laughing eyes of merriment that give 

Delightful promise to the gleeful spirit. 

" I stood apart awhile and thought to act 
The scholar — to be one that could not dance — 
Demure, abstracted — but my veins took fire, 
So many torches touchecf them, and my heart, 
Eager with mirth, embraced the giddy hour 
And lost itself in whirls of ecstacies." 



The graver youth, not inattentive, heard 
His giddy friend ; and thus responsive spoke : 

" I held a festival myself, last night ; 
In my own closet, with my books alone. 
My little chamber thronged with visitors. 
Some were the spirits of antiquity, 



41 

Those demi-gods that walk the dusky reahns 
Of dim Tradition ; mystic forms that grace 
The niches of the old world's Pantheon ; — 
And others of a giant race who came 
Grateful to greet their masters ; Poets came, 
Fresh from Olympian sports, with bays yet green 
And flowers unwilted by the century suns; 
Came warriors storming from the battle fields, 
"With dinted shields and foreheads darkly gashed, 
O these were glorious guests ; Milton was there, 
And seemed that he would let me touch his robe ! 
"And not without fair Beauty was my throng: 
Eve came with swollen cheeks, but timid fled 
As if the flaming sword was driving her ; 
Came Helen, from the thundering wall of Troy, 
Searching the Grecian host with misty eyes 
To catch the towering form of Menelaus ; 
Apelles heralded the bright Aspasia, 
To whose sweet voice the ear of Socrates 
Leaned listening as if charmed with harmony ; 
"Wild Sappho stood a moment in my presence, 
But glided into clouds as doth a rim 
Of beauty from the rainbow, nor returned ; 
Esther the queen, in Summer smiles arrayed, 
And Ruth the widow, in her weeds, were there ; 
And desolate Hagar from the wilderness, 
"With wreath of moss upon her shaded brows ; 
And Jeptha's daughter, in her long white robes. 
Passed through with troops of virgins following ; 
6 



42 

A wild, enchanting creature, timidly 
Standing in brooding hesitation, came 
To see these ancient dames ; her virgin form, 
Thin covered by a pm^ple robe loose flowing. 
Was zoneless, while her marble arms impulsive. 
Reaching through glossy curls, did brush aside 
The ringlet veil that covered her brown eyes — 
"Wells bottom-paved and lucid with rare gems ; - 
On me she turned their full orbed radiance. 
Then looked around, amazed, and fled away ! 
Impatient fled, expectant of pursuit ! 
My heart ran rapturous — 

" This broke the spell ; 
All my dream company had taken leave ; 
And open wide the Iliad lay before me !" 



XI. 

These two in after years I knew, and noted 
The advance of each along the road to fame. 
Our gifted youth was foremost in the race ; 
Wreaths flowered spontaneous on his brow and shed 
Fragrance around him ; and the voice of praise 
Made his rapt ear its own re-echoing shell. 
He needed but the stimulant of shouts 
To rouse his genius ; and the thronging crowd 
Choked up the temple when he deigned to speak. 
He needed not to labor ; why retire 
To dreary chambers in the dead of night. 



43 

To plan the great oration ? it would come 
Impetuous from liis tongue upon occasion,—' 
Impetuous as the furious tread of soldiers 
Brinking tlie edge of battle, — it would come. 
To rouse the daring and inspire the timid : 
So the world hailed a young Demosthenes ; 
And so he deemed himself Demosthenes ; 
And thought that he had done enough for fame. 
Hence the whole story of his life made up 
That worthless eulogy : "jETe left great signs 
Of Genius" — but he labored not and died. 
The world was busy with his memory, 
As savans are, discussing meteors. 
That with excessive light fire their own temples, 
And perish in the self-created flame. 



XII. 

That other whom we saw amid his books,-— 
Companioned with the demi-gods of old, — 
Remote and patient, plodded slow his way, 
And seemed to take but little note of time. 
Shunning for Learning's sake a life of pleasure, 
He dreamed along the bustling streets and stumbled 
Over the brickbat pavement as he walked. 
So that men wondered if he was insane. 
Yet his career was upward, to the hill 
Where the young Ages meet and live together^ 
Devoted to the single task of weaving 



44 

Garlands immortal for the sons of Fame : — 
For in the night-time, when the giddy Dance 
Its devotees commanded to Mirth's Halls, 
He patient delved the golden mine of learning ; 
Turned up rich jewels at every heave, and sat 
Eager contemplating, while nations slept, 
The prizes that lay sparkling at his feet, 
And careful saved for future exhibition. 
So Humboldt labored ; so brave Audubon ; 
So Milton toiled 'til he achieved the heio^ht 
Where the infernals challenged Grod to battle. 



SIII. 

Aspiring minds have patterns in the past : 
The stormy youth may copy Marius 
Or C?esar if he will — or Hannibal ; 
The patriot may take Hampden for his guide, 
Epaminondas of the British Isle ; 
Or Washington, the pillar that upholds 
Our grand colossal Fane of Liberty ; 
The graceless may unbend himself before 
The mirror that so fashioned Cicero ; 
The patient may find Michael Angelo, 
Painting the unfading panels of a chapel, 
And Heaven condensing on its humble dome ; 
And even the gentlest softly may recline, 
Prone on the meadow, near the grassy cell 
Melodious of the charming nightingale — 



45 

That feathered hermit, — and thus tuned his thoughts 
By notes of harmony, as did of old 
Pindar when he invaded Pan's domain, 
To plagiarize immortal melodies 
For mortal ears. 



There is one Solitude that all must reach, 
And go alone ! must edge a precipice — 
Edge it alone — for on its crumbling brink 
The nearest friend withdraws the kindred grasp, 
And drops, impatiently — reluctant, drops 
The icy form into the yawning gulf 
Whose shadowy waves no beaches find to lave. 



ERRATA. 



On pages 9 and 41, for A^elles read Ferides. 
On page 45, top line, for tuned read tune. 



Kir 



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